Sean O’Malley protests innocence after he is pulled from UFC 239 fight card

'Punished twice for doing nothing wrong.'

UFC 239 is down one tantalising fight. 'Suga' Sean O'Malley has been pulled from the Las Vegas pay-per-view event, next month, and his bantamweight bout with Marlon Vera. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has temporarily suspending O'Malley due to traces of the banned substance ostarine being discovered in his system by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). This is the same substance that led to O'Malley - one of the stand-outs from the Dana White's Contenders Series - being banned by USADA for six months in 2018. Prior to that ban, O'Malley was on a surge. The 24-year-old had won the Contender Series, in 2017, by knocking out Alfred Khashakyan. He then defeated Terrion Ware in December 2017 and got a decision win over Andre Soukhamthath - taking him to 10-0 - at UFC 222. Following the news of his withdrawal from the Vegas PPV, O'Malley took to social media to give his version of events:

'Punished twice for doing nothing wrong. I have never taken anything illegal. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I will continue to train and get better every day.'

https://www.instagram.com/p/By_anLHB82K/?utm_source=ig_embed "I want to make one thing very clear," O'Malley stated. "I have never purposely taken any prohibited substance to gain an advantage. "I will subject myself to whatever additional testing is required of me by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. I want to get this situation finally cleared up so I can return to the Octagon as soon as I can."